Lindsey Vonn to miss Sochi Olympics

Olympic downhill champion Lindsey Vonn will not compete at the Sochi Olympics and will have surgery soon to repair damage to her right knee following a crash training at Copper Mountain in November.

Vonn made the announcement through her publicist and an update on her Facebook page. Vonn wrote that she is "devastated" by having to miss Sochi.

"I did everything I possibly could to somehow get strong enough to overcome having no ACL, but the reality has sunk in that my knee is just too unstable to compete at this level," Vonn wrote. "I'm having surgery soon so that I can be ready for the world championships at home in Vail next February. On a positive note, this means there will be an additional spot so that one of my teammates can go for gold."